Hand-held precision self warming applicator

ABSTRACT

An application system applies a product, such as a lotion, cream or other therapeutic product to a skin surface of a user, the application system includes: an applicator comprising: a handheld container to hold the product; and a plurality of spheres which acquire on surfaces thereof the product upon rotating relative to the container.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a non-provisional patent application of U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/220,875, filed Sep. 18, 2015 in the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office, the contents of which are incorporated intheir entirety herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

In many aspects of life, it is desirable and/or necessary to applyproducts such as creams, lotions, sanitizers, medications or any othertype of therapeutic product to the back of one's hands (although aproduct may be applied to other body skin surfaces, as well) tomoisturize, medicate and sanitize one's skin.

Moisturizing often, especially after washing, keeps the skin healthy byinhibiting cracks and fissures, to form. These vectors or pathways mayallow bacteria to enter the dermis resulting in unsightly skin, pain andinfection.

There are many professions where frequent hand washing is mandatory,thus causing a need for increased moisturizing of the hands, for e.g.,physicians, healthcare workers, restaurant workers, teachers,hairdressers etc.

Presently, the only effective method to aid in applying products such asmoisturizers are one's hands. This method is not precise since itcontaminates the palms of working hands with the greasy and slipperyproducts, making it difficult to do one's job safely and effectively. Itshould be noted that the palms of one's hands, as well as the soles ofone's feet, have a natural protective keratin layer of skin and callousrarely needing therapeutic products to heal or protect them from dryingout.

2. Description of the Related Art

Up till now, containers which hold such cream, lotion, sanitizer or someother type of therapeutic product have had various types of dispensingdevices at the tops thereof, where the user pumps or squeezes to forceglobs of a product out or even may tilt the container upside down toallow the liquid to flow by gravity. There are also containers whichenable a user to spray a product onto the skin surface which alsocontaminates the surrounding air. All the above are archaic, notprecise, wasteful and can also be dangerous not only to the user but tothe environment and others.

Normally, in order to get a product applied to the desired skin surface,a user will first place the product onto that targeted skin site. Next,the palm and fingers will be employed as an applicator. Therefore, inorder to spread the product thoroughly over the surface of the skin, theuser must use the palm of his/her hand to perform the spreading task.The process is then repeated using the other hand to apply the product.The result of this application process is that both hands will becomemoist and slippery since palms or ventral aspects of hands will notabsorb products. This has the potential for spreading bacteria, thusdefeating the process of first washing one's hands before applying aproduct.

In many situations, it is imperative for a user, like doctors and othermedical providers, or anyone else such as chefs who frequently come intocontact with others in a public setting, to have their fingertips andpalms free of foreign substances, chemicals and bacteria. It is notuncommon for medical providers to wash their hands over 50 times a day,and thus cannot afford the time to apply products to their hands. Thisforces a majority of physicians and medical personnel to avoid using amoisturizer or even washing their hands as often as they need to do asprescribed by OSHA. Others may wash often but reduce the soap or timeneeded to wash effectively, hoping to avoid the adverse effects of warmwater and soap on their skin. If there is not a quick and convenientmanner in which to apply a product to the user's hands, the user becomesdiscouraged from even applying the product, thereby not achieving theappropriate amount of moisturizing necessary to maintain healthy skin,most importantly on the posterior or back of one's working hands.

The best time to use a moisturizer is after washing, since the pores ofthe skin will stay open for approximately 2 minutes after washing, whichenhances the ability for the moisturizer to be absorbed and to beeffective. Since many physicians wash their hands in front of theirpatients they are not able to place moisturizers during that vital two(2) minute window.

Further, by dumping globs of liquid onto the back of a hand to be spreadout by the other hand, or on the fingertips of one hand to be spread onthe back of the other hand, there is a significant amount of waste ofproduct that is dispensed from the container which cannot be absorbed bythe desired skin surfaces. This excess needs to be washed or wiped off.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to aspects of the present invention, there is provided anapplication system which provides a precise, quick, clean and efficientmanner in applying a product, such as a cream, lotion, sanitizer or someother type of therapeutic product, to a skin surface, including thebacks of hands and fingers of a user. Since this novel applicator canreduce the time it takes to apply a product to seconds instead ofminutes, there is produced an increase in a willingness to use aproduct. This benefit enhances the effectiveness of inferior and acheaper product's therapeutic abilities simply by its increased use.Another benefit of the application system is a direct reduction in costsof using products by reducing waste, due to its efficient and preciseplacement of only the exact amount of product needed.

According to an embodiment, there is provided an application system toapply a product to a surface of a target, comprising: an applicatorcomprising: a handheld container to hold the product; and a plurality ofspheres which acquire on surfaces thereof the product upon rotatingrelative to the container.

According to another embodiment, there is provided an application systemto apply a product to a surface of a target, comprising: an applicatorcomprising: a handheld container to hold the product; and a plurality ofspheres which receive the product on one side, and upon rolling of thesphere across the surface, applies the product to the surface withanother side of the spheres.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forthin part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obviousfrom the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent and more readily appreciated from the following description ofthe embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings ofwhich:

FIG. 1 is a top view of an applicator according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a top end view of the applicator shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom end view of the applicator shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the applicator shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the applicator shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is cross-sectional view along line I-I of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view along line J-J of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a top view of an applicator and docking station according toanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a top end view of the applicator shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a side of the applicator shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the applicator shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view along line A-A of FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is cross-sectional view along line H-H of FIG. 8;

FIG. 14 is an exploded side view of the applicator shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 15 is a perspective exploded view of the applicator shown in FIG.8;

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view along line F-F of FIG. 14;

FIG. 17 is a blown up detailed view of section G of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a top view of the docking station shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 19 is a top end view of the docking station shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the docking station shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 21 is a side view of the docking station of FIG. 8;

FIG. 22 is cross-sectional view along line I-I of FIG. 21;

FIG. 23 is a cross-sectional view along line J-J of FIG. 18;

FIG. 24 is a top view of an applicator and a docking station accordingto yet another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 25 is a side view of the applicator shown in FIG. 24; and

FIG. 26 is a cross-sectional view along line H-H of FIG. 25.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elementsthroughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain thepresent invention by referring to the figures.

As shown in FIGS. 1-7, a precision self-warming applicator 42 includes acontainer (flask) 32, which holds product to be used, according a firstembodiment. FIG. 1 is a top view of the applicator 42, FIG. 2 is a topend view, FIG. 3 is a bottom view, FIG. 4 is a perspective view, FIG. 5is a side view, FIG. 6 is cross-sectional view along line I-I of FIG. 5,and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view along line J-J of FIG. 1;

The product may be a cream, lotion or some other type of liquid ortherapeutic product. A container cover 34 (see FIGS. 1 and 6) snaps ontothe container 32 (see FIG. 6) so as to protect the container 32. Thecontainer cover 34 also contains a pressure device 36 (which may be aswitch) (see FIG. 5), which is ergonomically placed since it is to beheld down to be engaged. When pressed, the pressure device 36 appliesdirect pressure to the contents of the container 32, which starts theflow of product it contains. In one embodiment, the pressure device 36presses down at an exposed point of the container 32 to put pressure onthe product to exit the container 32. The product next passes through awarmer conduit 22 (see FIG. 6) before it can exit so the temperature ofthe product will be increased to enhance skin absorption when it isapplied.

As shown in FIG. 6, the pressure device 36, when engaged and held downin an on position, will simultaneously turn on a warmer 24. The producttemperature is regulated by a controller board 28. The warmer conduit 22may be powered by rechargeable batteries 26. The controller board 28contains a thermostat, which is regulated by a switch (not shown) thatmay have at least two positions to control temperature settings. Theswitch may be directly wired to the control board 28. A cable inlet 30may be used to be connected to an AC adapter or other power source.

After the product passes out of the narrow section of the warmer conduit22, the product will enter a chamber where spheres 20 are located, whichis actually a continuation of the warming conduit 22. This chamber willhouse at least 3 spheres 20 which rotate about axes of rotation 360degrees. The axes of rotation in this embodiment are in one line,although such a configuration is not necessary. The spheres 20 willcontinually rotate so that each portion of a surface thereof moves frominside the chamber of the warming conduit 22 to the outside atmosphere.The rotating spheres 20 can have more than 180 degrees of their surfacearea exposed to the outside to increase the speed of the applicationprocess. To increase the sphere 20 surface area exposed to the outsideenvironment, a cut back of the container cover 34 can be made or theaxes of rotation of the spheres 20, while maintaining their parallelorientation, may be offset from the straight line orientation of all 3spheres 20.

The warming conduit warms the spheres 20 to regulate a temperature ofthe liquid to a desired comfort level. The warming of the liquid opensup the pores of the user's skin, enhancing the therapeutic ability ofeven the least expensive moisturizer and other products. It is notnecessary any more to put the liquid on the skin surface anymore rightafter washing the skin surface to get the most out of the moisturizer.

Although not required, it is contemplated that the warming conduit 22will house no less than three spheres 20 (thus one or two sphereconfigurations are also possible). As the spheres 20 rotate from theinside of the warming conduit 22, they will pick up a very small andprecise amount of the product that is to be used through contact with askin surface. The circulating process is simply accomplished with adirect contact to an outside surface of skin. The applicator 42 is movedalong that skin surface using simple friction to rotate the spheres 20.If the skin on the back of a human hand is the target for the product,the application process should take less than ten seconds to apply toboth hands. The absorption of the product due to the warming process andthe small amount applied at any given time will enhance the speed ofabsorption into the skin.

Second and third embodiments of an applicator are shown in FIGS. 8-26.

With respect to the second embodiment, FIG. 8 is a top view of anapplicator 2 and a docking station 8, FIG. 9 is a top end view of theapplicator 2, FIG. 10 is a side of the applicator 2, FIG. 11 is aperspective view of the applicator 2, FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional viewalong line A-A of the applicator shown in FIG. 10, FIG. 13 iscross-sectional view along line H-H of FIG. 8, FIG. 14 is an explodedside view of the applicator 2, FIG. 15 is a perspective exploded view ofthe applicator 2, FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view along line F-F ofFIG. 14, and FIG. 17 is a blown up detailed view of section G of FIG.16. FIG. 18 is a top view of the docking station 8, FIG. 19 is a top endview of the docking station 8, FIG. 20 is a perspective view of thedocking station 8, FIG. 21 is a side view of the docking station 8, FIG.22 is cross-sectional view along line I-I of FIG. 21, and FIG. 23 is across-sectional view along line J-J of FIG. 18.

With respect to the third embodiment, FIG. 24 is a top view of anapplicator 40 and a docking station 8 according to the third embodimentof the present invention, FIG. 25 is a side view of the applicator 40;and FIG. 26 is a cross-sectional view along line H-H of FIG. 25.

The second and third embodiments show the applicators 2 and 40,respectively. The applicator 2 has a container 3 and the applicator 40has a container 41. Both applicators 2 and 40 contain smaller spheres 6than the spheres 20 of the first embodiment. Having six smaller spheres6 allows an applicator sphere holder 4 along with the six spheres 6 tobe positioned so that the axes of rotation are parallel to each other,but formed aligned in cross-section in an arc shape to better conform tothe back of a hand or other curved body parts for more complete coverageof the product being applied. The increase in the number of spheres andwider conforming shape will increase the speed of product application.

The applicator 42, due to the linear positioning of its spheres 20, maybe used on other parts of the human body that a curved sphere holder 4may not conform to. Thus, it is possible to have different preciseapplicators 42, 2 or 40, just as some examples, for differentapplication purposes.

Instead of the built in warmer 24 as in embodiment 42, the applicators 2and 40 have a docking station 8 which can warm the spheres 6. Thecontainer 41 of the applicator 40 (see FIGS. 24-26) is intentionallycrimped at one end and is manufactured as a one-piece unit to allow forease of manufacturing and product insertion. This allows for a lessexpensive overall cost, which will hopefully be passed along to the enduser or allow for a larger profit margin. The design of the applicator40 is for disposal when the product is used up.

The applicator 2 (see FIGS. 8 and 12), though having a slightly highermanufacturing cost, allows the user to dispose of the product holder orflask only and keeps the sphere holder 4 with spheres 6 (see FIGS.14-16) to be reused. Another full container 3 can be purchased without asphere holder 4 and spheres 6. The user can now take the sphere holder 4with the spheres 6 and snap it into the new, full container 3, and thisprocess can be repeated again when this new container 3 is empty.

The warming base station 8 (see FIGS. 12, 20, 22 and 25) has as a firstpurpose to warm the product in either of the applicators 40 or 2. Asecond purpose is to keep the product at a steady temperature while theapplicator 40 or 2 is docked in the warming station 8. A third purposeof the warming station 8 is to hold the applicator 40 or 2 while it isdocked in a vertical position for easy access and removal from thewarming station 8. A fourth purpose allows for the applicator 40 or 2 tobe upright, thereby enabling gravity to force the product towards thespheres 6 for continuous warming.

Since the applicators 40 and 2 do not have built in flash heaters,batteries, thermostats and switches as does the applicator 42, theirsizes can be reduced for even easier handling than the applicator 42,but they may not be as portable as applicator 42 in view of theadditional docking station.

The warming base station 8 has an internal shaped spheres holder 4 whosepurpose is to precisely fit the 360-degree Spheres 6 (see FIGS. 12 and22). The spheres holder 4 has six concave cut outs (see FIG. 19) of 180degrees each to allow one half of a respective convex sphere 6 to beinserted into them. Thus, the spheres holder 4 holds the spheres 6 withthe axes of rotation positioned in a concave configuration, while awarmer 10 has an inverse convex configuration, and the warmer 10 is ableto maintain a steady temperature on the spheres 6 due to the warmer 10having a conforming fit to the spheres 6.

An outlet 14 (see FIG. 12) will accept an AC adapter to charge therechargeable battery 12. When the rechargeable battery 12 is fullycharged, the mobility of the Applicators 40 and 2 can increase withouthaving to plug a cord into an electrical socket to power up the Warmingstation 8 all the time. A controller board 18 contains the thermostatand electronic circuits. The controller board 18 regulates the warmer 10whose temperature is chosen by different positions of a switch 5. Theproduct and the spheres 6 are continually warmed by the heat transferredfrom the warmer 10 to the spheres 6 which conduct the heat to theproduct with 180 degrees or one half of the surface area of the spheres6 making direct contact with the product to be applied.

A lower cap 16 (see FIG. 12) closes the warming station 8 at its base toinhibit moisture or foreign material from entering. The fit between thespheres holder 4 and the spheres 6 along with the warmer 10 is precise,causing passive locking of the parts. Both applicators 40 and 2 canstill be easily removed for use with one hand holding the warmingstation 8, while the other hand removes the either applicator 40 or 2.The precise fit of the conforming spheres 6 and the warming Station 8passively locks the applicators 40 or 2 in the vertical position, whichalso allows gravity to force the product towards the spheres 6.

The warming station 8 will also have a multiple position switch 5 likethat with respect to the applicator 42 of the first embodiment. Theswitch 5 will not only turn the warming station 8 on but will also havethe temperature settings, which scientific studies have shown to beeither stimulating or soothing to the human skin.

The spheres 6 and 20 in all the applicators 42, 40 and 2 may haveminiscule craters 44 (see FIG. 17) that will aid in picking up thecorrect amount of product to be placed onto the skin. The spheres 6 and20, if they have perfectly smooth surfaces, may not be able to pick upall products, which may have different viscosities.

Based upon the above, there is provided an applicator that can apply aliquid, such as a lotion, cream or other therapeutic product to thesurface of the skin in a clean, efficient, product conserving manner.The applicator has at least one sphere which acquires the liquid from acontainer through different ways, so that as the applicator is movedover the surface of the skin, the at least one sphere rolls across theskin surface, applying the liquid to the skin surface. The applicatormay also have a docking station for recharging and/or for heating the atleast one sphere so as to improve the absorption of the liquid into theskin. In this way, the liquid can be applied into and absorbed by theskin, without the user needing to get the other hand moistened with theliquid, avoiding contamination by the other hand, and avoiding waste ofthe liquid.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatchanges may be made in this embodiment without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined inthe claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An application system to apply a product to asurface of a target, comprising: an applicator comprising: a handheldcontainer to hold the product; and a plurality of spheres which acquireon surfaces thereof the product upon rotating relative to the container.2. The application system according to claim 1, wherein axes of rotationof the spheres are along a line.
 3. The application system according toclaim 2, further comprising a cover to contain the container and thespheres, wherein greater than 180 degrees of surface area of the spheresare exposed to outside of the cover.
 4. The application system accordingto claim 1, wherein axes of rotation of the spheres are not along asingle line.
 5. The application system according to claim 4, wherein theaxes of rotation of the spheres form a concave shape.
 6. The applicationsystem according to claim 1, further comprising: a warming unit to warmthe surfaces of the spheres prior to the spheres acquiring the product;and a cover to contain the container, the spheres and the warming unit.7. The application system according to claim 1, wherein an end of thecontainer away from the other end where the spheres are located iscrimped.
 8. The application system according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a cover to contain the container; and a sphere holder tohold the spheres, wherein the sphere holder is detachable from thecover.
 9. The application system according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a docking station to receive the applicator, wherein thedocking station has a warming unit to warm the spheres when theapplicator is received by the docking station.
 10. The applicationsystem according to claim 5, further comprising: a docking station toreceive the applicator, wherein the docking station has a warming unitto warm the spheres when the applicator is received by the dockingstation wherein the warming unit has a convex shape to complementarilyreceive the spheres of the applicator.
 11. The application systemaccording to claim 10, wherein the spheres are warmed by the warmingunit on surfaces that are different from the ones that receive theproduct from the container.
 12. The application system according toclaim 6, further comprising a switch to enable adjustment of temperatureof the warming unit.
 13. The application system according to claim 1,wherein the spheres have craters in surfaces thereof to increaseadhesion of the product to the surfaces.
 14. The application systemaccording to claim 9, wherein the spheres have craters in surfacesthereof to increase adhesion of the product to the surfaces.
 15. Theapplication system according to claim 6, further comprising: arechargeable battery unit located within the cover, to provide power tothe warming unit for warming.
 16. The application system according toclaim 10, further comprising: a rechargeable battery unit located withinthe docking station, to provide power to the warming unit for warming.17. The application system according to claim 9, wherein the dockingstation maintains the applicator in an upright position, wherein theliquid flows by gravity to be in contact with warming unit to be warmed.18. An application system to apply a product to a surface of a target,comprising: an applicator comprising: a handheld container to hold theproduct; and a plurality of spheres which receive the product on oneside, and upon rolling of the sphere across the surface, applies theproduct to the surface with another side of the spheres.
 19. Theapplication system according to claim 18, wherein the applicator furthercomprises a warming unit to warm the spheres prior to the spheresreceiving the liquid on the another side.
 20. The application systemaccording to claim 19, further comprising: a docking station to receivethe applicator, further comprising a warming unit to warm the spheresprior to the spheres receiving the liquid on the another side.